Cottontales
by parkerroad
Summary: A series of loosely connected one shots involving Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde from Zootopia. Focuses on their daily lives and their budding relationship. Fluff with a little bit of drama. Please R&R!
Wearing a dark blue button-up with a loose, black tie around his collar, a certain spry fox forcefully swung the door to his apartment open. "The name is Wilde. _Nick Wilde_." The slender fox raised his eyebrows while staring at the small, grey bunny perched on his couch. Bringing his paws up as if he were holding a gun, he lurched forward into a somersault. "Hands up! You're under arrest!" His sly smile peeked from behind his make-believe gun.

Judy Hopps looked at him unamused, thumping her foot rapidly on the creaky wood floors. "You're not going to be able to do that any time soon if you don't study!" Internally, she was laughing at how dorky this fox could be. Although Nick had a tough exterior, he had an insanely soft inside- a side only Judy was allowed to see.

Nick smirked, his eyes relaxing to his usual half-lidded fashion. "Carrots, chill out! Maybe we should take a trip to Tundratown instead? It's still not too late... They have those _carrot-frosted ice cream bars_ you love so much at DeThaw's! Heh?" He wiggled his eyebrows to her in a suggestive manner. Judy wasn't budging. "I'll even pay? My treat!" He tried to think of the various things that would distract the little bunny he had grown so fondly of.

Tempted only for a second, Judy rolled her eyes. "Nick, I swear if you don't sit down right now and study for your test tomorrow, you're gonna fail the board exam to be an officer!" She gave him a pointed look, trying hard to ignore how handsome Nick looked in his recruit attire. She couldn't imagine what he'd look like in a full blown cop uniform, blushing at the thought.

She feigned a _gasp_ , "You'll have to live your days out as an old fox selling pawsicles to hamsters!"

"Hey! I got other hustles too, you know." Another smirk.

It had been six months after the Nick and Judy solved the case of the missing predators around Zootopia and much to Judy's surprise, Nick had actually taken her up on her idea to be partners in the police force. As a recruit in the Zootopia Police Training Program, Nick endured hours of learning the laws of all the different districts, how to hone his investigation skills, tiresome tests of physical fitness, and everything in-between. Being the con artist that he was before a certain little bunny hopped into his life, Nick was already quite familiar with the system- or rather how to get around the system.

"Carrots, Carrots, _Carrots_... there's no way they won't let me pass. I mean, I basically solved that entire Night Howlers case!" He took off his dress shirt to reveal a white, stained Zootopia Police Academy tee. Judy scoffed from her seat, glowering at him while he walked in. Nick yawned, walking towards his refrigerator across the room. "Relax. I've aced everything so far. Piece of carrot cake. It'd take an idiot not to pass this test."

Judy slumped on the couch, thinking back to all the hours she spent cramming and the exhausting work she had to do to prove to her trainers that she was capable of being a police officer. It was true- Nick had passed all his previous tests easily and excelled in the physical training that she hated. She was both jealous _and_ impressed by Nicolas Wilde. She definitely underestimated this clever fox.

"Do you think I got to the top of my class by just sitting around... drinking _blueberry beer_?!" Judy stood up. "I brought all my note cards when I was training and oh, all my practice exams too! It's 7:23 PM so you can study for six hours and still have a good eight hours of sleep after!" She talked so fast her words were beginning to stumble over the other. She spread her binders and notebooks across Nick's crummy table, looking up to him earnestly. Her cottontail wiggled fiercely.

Walking back over to the living room, he exclaimed, "Who cares! There's no way I'll fail." Nick tugged her back down to the lumpy sofa and sat down besides her, kicking his feet up on top of all her papers and handed her a cold blueberry beer. She turned away, folding her arms. "Come on, Carrots. I know you want it." He wiggled the can in front of her. "Bet you had a hard day at work and now you're taking it out on little poor Nicky, huh?"

Nick wasn't sure what he was expecting when he had called Carrots over to help him study. He supposed he just needed _any_ excuse to call her over, honestly. Nowadays, Nicked seemed to be thinking of a lot of reasons for her to come over. He thought she'd quiz him on a few questions and they can get back to the usual Nick and Judy routine where they pig out on buggy burgers and watch old crime movies in his living room. But, in the short time that he's known this bunny, he had come to realize that she was the most persevering, relentless animal he's ever met- and he loved her for it.

 _Time for plan B._ "Take this seriously," she leaned against a cushion. "They only assign the best recruits to Precinct 1..." She continued looking away while her ears flopped down. Was she seriously tearing up? Nick raised an eyebrow at her before sighing deeply. "I said we're gonna be partners and that's what's gonna happen," Nick said softly. He put a paw on her shoulder, gently squeezing. "Let's study, okay?"

Judy perked right up. "Great!" Her demeanor changed in a split second. "Okay, this binder here is completely colored coded by species, isn't that cool?!"

Nick stifled a laugh. "Dumb bunny." Nick reluctantly opened one of Judy's notebooks. "You just don't know when to quit."

She grinned at him, "It's called a hustle, sweetheart." She squeezed his cheeks, "Now let's get to work!" She grabbed a paper. "Alright... Question one."

* * *

Four hours later and a few beers downed, with a pen behind his ear, Nick scowled. "This is impossible! We didn't even learn some of these things in class!" He scanned Judy's perfect notes with a confused look. "How on earth did you remember all of this?" No response. "Carrots, come on, you said you would help me. In fact, I dare say you're the one that got me into this mess in the first place."

He turned to his side to see Judy sleeping silently, still holding notecards in her paws. Her head rested against the arm of the couch. Her nose twitched slightly. He grinned ear to ear and suddenly stopped himself. He was even more confused now staring at the sleeping rabbit than he was staring at her notes. He felt a warm pit in his stomach. She had put in so much work to help him pass the exam, but not only that, Judy had changed his whole life.

He sat back, looking around his apartment- that Judy had helped pick. (She couldn't stand his prior apartment in the basement of a run down building filled with pipes and wires.) He scrolled through Furbook on his phone, seeing all the new friends he had met through Judy. He looked down on himself and his Zootopia Police Academy tee that he wouldn't be wearing if it weren't for Judy. He had turned his whole life around and it was all because of a dumb bunny. Nick looked back at Judy and her falling notecards. He got off the couch to find her a blanket. Tucking her in gently as to not wake her, he planted a soft kiss on her cheek before turning bright red. She stirred a little. Satisfied that she hadn't noticed what he had just done, Nick turned into his room. _Goodnight Judy, time to get some sleep._

* * *

Nick woke up to a blaring fire alarm. "Judy?" He ran out of his bedroom to see her struggling to fan away the smoke from a hot pan in his kitchen.

"Ready to take that test?" Judy looked over at Nick before turning back to the stove. "I made you a big breakfast. Eggs, pancakes with your favorite blueberry syrup, and tofu sausages! Ignore the smoke. You didn't have a lot to work with in your fridge -you should really have more than beer and expired take-out by the way, but I did what I could. Anyway, you really need to eat this or else your brain won't be able to function and you'll fail the test!"

Nick, still half-asleep and unable to process Judy's frantic words, simply nodded. It was 10 AM and there was still a few more hours until the test. Nick grinned at the still yapping Judy, admiring the bunny's early morning moxie. He looked around the room to see that Judy had already cleaned up all the binders, notebooks, and empty beer cans. She had even laid out his recruit uniform, completely pressed and ironed. _Is there anything that bunny can't do?_

"What?" Judy looked back at him, still fanning the stove.

"Nothing," Nick continued to smile. "I think I'm ready for that test."

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys! This is my first fic so I'd really love some reviews. I tried to delve myself into the Zootopia world and use places I've seen on their official sites and ideas from their concept art. I wanted this to be a more realistic relationship so Nick and Judy are taking things slow. (Ironic for a bunny and fox, right?) Please enjoy.**


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